Mower



E. F. HUDDLE 'Nov. 8, 1932.

MOWER Filed Oct. 9. 1931 l l l 1...

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ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWIN F. HUDDLE, OI ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO 3'. I. CASE COMPANY, OF

BACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION MOWER Application filed October 9,1931. Serial No. 567,848.

'The object of my invention is to provide simple and positive means whereby the shoe of a mower and the parts carried thereby will be readily detached from the shoe support when the cutter-bar strikes obstructions in its path and caused thereby to swing rearwardly, thus preventing breakage of the mower parts, and which parts may again be re-connected in operable condition, without the use of shear pins commonly employed for connecting the cutterbar to the shoe. The use of such pins is objectionable for the reason that a supply must be constantly present when mowing and also that as the pins ars usually of the same strength those of suitable character can only be approximately determined as to their resisting and breaking qualities, so that the shearing action of such pins is varied and at times unsatisfactory according to the degree of impact between the cutterbar and the obstructions encountered in the field.

In the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, Figure l is a fragmentary plan of that portion of a mower to which my improvement is applicable; Fig. 2, a detail section taken on the dotted line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a detail section as seen when looking in the direction of the arrows 33 in Fig. 1.

In said drawing the numeral 5 indicates a shoe support embodying a sleeve 6 mounted on a shaft 7 ina well known manner, an arched hinge member 8 extending from the sleeve and terminating in a preferably ii tegrally formed pin 10, the opposite side of the shoe support including a bearing 12, which latter is elongated for purposes of stability in supporting the shoe 13, as will appear.

In said bearing 12 I arm 14, the vertical sha 15 of which is secured by washers 16 and pins 17, as indicated in Fig. 2, and on said arm I mount the shoe bearing 13 adapted to pivot in relation to the shoe support 5. The cutter-bar 18 and guide member 19 are fixedly secured to the shoe, at 18', 19, while the guide member 20 is also secured to the shoe, the members 19, 20, forming a guide through which the sickleivotally mount an head 21, sickle-bar 22 and pitman 23' reciprocate. Upon the shoe 13 I mount a keeper for the pin 10, preferably comprising the fixed jaw 25 and the hinged jaw 26, which latter is pivotally connected to the shoe at 27, said jaws having their outer ends diverging as indicated in Fig. 3. These jaws and the shoe are connected by a bolt 28 having a coil spring 29 engaging its head 30 and the hinged jaw 26, so that the latter jaw will be urged toward the jaw 25 for the purpose presently to appear.

,As indicated in Fig. 1, the parts are in normal position for cutting, the shoe 13 being pivotally connected with its support 5 by the arm 14. When the sickle-bar strikes an obstruction said bar, the cutter-bar, guide members and parts supported by the shoe. as a unit, will swing rearwardly about the pivotal connection 15, the pin 10 at the moment of impact being released from the jaws 25, 26, which pull away therefrom through the yielding action of the spring 29, which spring is adjusted so as to govern the amount of resistance the cutter-bar must overcome before it disconnects. By tightening the nut on bolt 28 the spring will urge jaw 26 toward jaw 25 with increased pressure, thereby causing the required resistance to the cutter-bar to be more than if said spring 29 is more loosely adjusted. The shoe with its asso-.

ciated parts may then be re-connected by swinging the same forwardly, when the jaws of the keeper will snap'onto the pin 10, and

the enti re assemblage thus secured in normal cutting position. It will be also understood that the oppositely disposed armil and pin 10, w h'en the parts are in the position'indicated-in. Fi .1, constitute a pivotal c'onnec tion whereby the shoeand parts carried thereby may be swung vert cally when so desired. It will thus be seen that I provide simple means for connecting the shoe and its support whereby horizontalv and vertical ad-,

justments of. the cutter-bar .may be .per-' formed, and that by employingthe elongated bearing 12 in whichto-pivotally mount the shoe a stable connect-ion is made for support ing the shoe and parts assembleditherewlth against undue sa as the mover traverses the field. ggmg I claim as my invention:

1. In a mower, a shoe support having bearings at its opposite ends, a shoe pivotally mounted on said bearings for vertical adjustment, and means for releasing the shoe from one of said bearings whereby it may be pivoted in a horizontal direction about the opposite bearing on said shoe support.

2. In a mower, a shoe support including a sleeve, a bearing adjacent the sleeve, an arm pivotally mounted in said bearing, a shoe pivotally connected to the arm to swing vertically and horizontally, a bearing on the opposite end of the shoe, and means on the shoe normally engaging said latter bearing and releasable therefrom when the shoe is pivoted horizontally about said arm.

3. In a mower, the combination, with a shoe support, of an angulated arm mounted in said support, a shoe pivotally connected to the arm to swing horizontally and vertically, and means on the shoe normally engaging the support for releasing the shoe from the support to be swung horizontally on the arm.

4. In a mower, a shoe support including a vertical bearing, an arm including a vertical and a horizontal member pivotally mounted in the bearing, a shoe connected to the arm, a keper on the shoe, and means on the shoe support adapted to engage the keeper to normally secure the shoe in position and releasable from said keeper whereby the shoe may swing horizontally upon impact of part of the mower with obstructions in its line of travel.

5. In a mower, a shoe support having an arm, a shoe pivotally connected to the arm, a cutter-bar carried by the shoe, a yielding keeper mounted on the shoe opposite its pivotal connection with the support, and means for normally engaging the keeper to maintain the cutter-bar in cutting position and for releasng the shoe to swing horizontally when the cutter-bar strikes an obstruction.

6. In a mower having a shoe, a keeper on the shoe comprising jaws one of which is yieldin ly mounted in relation to the other, and a s oe support having an arm pivotally connected to the shoe and having means engageable with and separable from the keeper whereby the shoe may be maintained in normal operable condition and also to be released to swing horizontally upon striking an obstruction.

7. In a mower having a shoe, a keeper on the shoe, and a shoe support pivotally connected to the shoe and having means engageable with and separable from the keeper whereby the shoe may be maintained in normal operable condition and also to be released to swing horizontally upon its pivotal connection when striking obstructions.

8. In a mower having a shoe, a bearing on the shoe, a keeper on the shoe opposite the bearing, a shoe support, means pivotally connecting the shoe support to the shoe bearing, and means for detachably connecting the keeper to the shoe support, said shoe being adapted to swing vertically on said connecting means and horizontally in relation to the shoe support upon release of said detachable connecting means.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' EDWIN F. HUDDLE. 

